Patrick Ewing remained a Knick for another day yesterday – and perhaps for another season.

Resembling the final few years of his Knick career, the blockbuster trade that would have made

Ewing a Sonic has become a muddled, murky mess, leaving the Big Fella in limbo.

Although both Knick GM Scott Layden and Sonic GM Wally Walker still are trying to make a Vin Baker-for-Ewing package work, the mega-deal was not finalized yesterday, and may not be at all.

Layden and Walker will desperately try again to revive a four-team deal today as they have come too far to let it die. But Seattle brass has let it be known if it’s not done by tomorrow, they’re out.

One league official called the possibility of a Ewing-for-Baker transaction as being reduced to “50-50.”

Chicago has replaced Detroit as the fourth team in a proposed swap, along with the Knicks, Sonics and Lakers. The Knicks are still hopeful they can acquire Glen Rice in the four-team trade and dump Chris Dudley’s contract.

Baker’s agent warned the Sonics his client doesn’t want to return now that it’s known that Sonic coach Paul Westphal spearheaded the Ewing-for-Baker deal.

The prospect of a downsized two-team deal between the Knicks and Sonics is no longer a possibility now.

A Ewing-for-Baker deal would force the Knicks to take on four throw-ins – Vernon Maxwell, Greg Foster, Vladimir Stepania and perhaps Ruben Patterson – to make it work under the salary cap. The Knicks don’t want to take on those salaries, some of which extend beyond next summer. It is why the Knicks sought a four-team deal in the first place.

Baker is a base-level compensation player, making it awfully difficult under the salary cap to complete a deal with Ewing making $14 million and Baker $10.1M.

“It’s very quiet,” a Seattle official said last night. “They’re having a hard time doing a two-team deal.”

The Knicks and Sonics talked to several teams yesterday about replacing cold-footed Detroit as the new fourth team. The Pistons are not completely out of it.

“Four-team deals are tough to do,” a Knicks official said. “We’re still trying to finish up what we started.”

The Pistons pulled out of the historic four-team, 13-player trade on Monday night. It would’ve made Baker and Rice Knicks and allowed the Knicks to trade to the Lakers Dudley, whose salary of $7 million per year became a ridiculous burden considering coach Jeff Van Gundy had stopped playing him.

Detroit vehemently denies it, but the Pistons decided against going through with the deal when they realized another offer for Christian Laettner, from Dallas, was more attractive. The Mavs offered Detroit Cedric Ceballos and those two teams were talking yesterday.

Another cause for their cold feet was negative phone calls they received at their switchboard when news of the proposed trade became public Monday afternoon.

Several executives involved in the original four-team trade are ticked off at the media, believing premature reports of the trade wound up blitzing it. It is why information leaked out scantily yesterday as the Knicks brass huddled to try to make Ewing a Sonic and bring Baker and Rice to New York.

“They have to move Vin now,” said Aaron Goodwin, Baker’s agent. “You can’t dangle a player like that and expect him to come back.”

Walker spoke with Baker yesterday, informing him of the possibility of the deal dying. According to a source, Baker told the GM his “feelings were hurt.”

The Knicks could still divorce themselves from Ewing by trading him to the Wizards. The Knicks and Wizards have had talks this month with Layden adding several Knicks to a Ewing-for-Juwan Howard package, including Larry Johnson, that scared Michael Jordan off.

According to a source close to Ewing, the Knicks center told Layden he’s not interested in going to Washington anyhow because of its low standing in the East.

The Knicks are still trying to land the free-agent Rice from L.A. and trade Dudley, in a separate deal if the Ewing package falls through. Knicks rookie and former St. John’s star LaVor Postell, their second-rounder who has asked to be traded, is being dangled in that package along with a first-round pick.

Dudley was said to be “ecstatic” about going to the Lakers. He spends his offseasons in San Diego and the Lakers need a backup center.

Rice is thrilled at the Knick deal in which he’d make $60 million over five years. It’s the best financial package out there. His fallback is signing with Chicago in a one-year deal.

With Rice on board as a small forward, the Knicks could trade Allan Houston for Atlanta center Dikembe Mutombo, who is a free agent after next season.

“Dikembe is someone we want to build around but we’re not a championship team and nobody is untradeable,” Atlanta GM Pete Babcock said.